A report by a local newspaper in Sweden has claimed 90 per cent of shootings in the country are carried out by people with foreign backgrounds.

According to research done by newspaper Dagens Nyheter, 90 out of the 100 offenders and suspected offenders have at least one foreign-born parent, the vast majority having roots in the Middle East and North Africa.

In around half of the cases, the men were born in Sweden whilst others came to the country at a young age.

The study looked at 53 convicted and 47 suspected perpetrators involved in shootings in public places which have taken place since 2013.

According to research done by newspaper Dagens Nyheter, 90 out of the 100 offenders and suspected offenders have at least one foreign-born parent, the vast majority having roots in the Middle East and North Africa

Amir Rostani, a sociologist at Stockholm University, said: 'The fact is that street gangs, and violence are phenomena that occur in some areas, and most of the people who live in these areas are of foreign descent.'

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Sweden, which had a record 163,000 asylum applications in 2015, saw an increase in anti-migrant attitudes last year with a number of arson fires targeting refugee centers.

Last week three fires in southern Sweden were apparently aimed at refugees and are being investigation as arson.

No injuries have been reported and no arrests have been made.

But police said in separate statements last Wednesday that more than 300 asylum seekers have been evacuated after overnight fires in Vaxjo, Borrby and Malilla.

The European Network Against Racism spokesman Georgina Siklossy said: 'In terms of immigration and integration policies it appears that Sweden is more progressive than other countries, but the tide is also turning.

'A number of restrictions to existing migration and integration policies have been introduced, and the media discourse has shifted from positive welcoming of refugees and asylum seekers to portraying migration, and by extension, migrants, as a problem.'

She added: 'This also has an impact on people who have lived in Sweden for two or three generations and continue to be regarded as "alien elements"'.

A report by a local newspaper in Sweden has claimed 90 per cent of shootings in the country are carried out by people with foreign backgrounds

Elsewhere in Sweden, there are issues not just with ordinary crime, but with terrorism - resulting in a terror level currently set at 'elevated'.

Police say at least 300 Swedes have gone to Syria and Iraq for training as jihadis.

They include Mohammed Tofik Saleh, 34, an Iraqi-born Swiss citizen who was arrested on February 11, authorities say.

It's believed that he and Mahamad Laban, 45, a Lebanon-born Danish citizen, were plotting an attack in Europe when they were arrested in Turkey.

Officials say they had both been training with ISIS since 2014.

And on February 3, a Swedish court turned over evidence found in the country that was believed to be connected to the 2016 Brussels attacks.

That evidence was found in Malmo - a city whose police chief, Stefan Sinteus, asked locals in an open letter this month to help cops stem the 'upward spiral of violence.'